Starting Anew
by Erykha
Summary: story is going to be further updated on the Daidai Rarabai account! Daidai Rarabai is me, so please don't begin the accusations that STARTING ANEW was plagiarized. I'm leaving this up because it'd be rude to delete everyone's reviews.
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer;** I don't own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_ and this story is certainly NOT for my own profit.  
**warnings;** OCC-ness, lack of Beta, and a weird update schedule 'cause I write whenever I can get the right words out

**notes (please READ—IMPORTANT; it clears things up);**

- Zuko's new family relations. I had to mess with this, else the idea wouldn't work too well (unless I involved Spirits and some seriously weird circumstances, among other things, but I won't go there). As it is now, Zuko's "new" father, named Jiroh, was the son of Sozin and the older brother of Azulon, making Sozin Zuko's grandfather instead of his great-grandfather. And that's basically it. Paritculars will be brought up in the story.

- Zuko's age. After much debate ('cause I do love a 16 year-old Zuko), I settled on Zuko being only a few months older than Aang rather than four years. I felt this would work best. Subsequently, there's an appearance alteration... Just picture 13 year-old Zuko, except his hairstyle takes after his 16 year-old self's (because I love his hair then).

Also, this story is pretty much touch-and-go for me.  
Especially since I haven't seen every single episode of the series and I've already half-forgotten the ones that I have. I know, I know: shame on me. In any case, most major events _will_ happen, someway or another.

Warning for OOC, because, honestly, I adore the characters but I can't _be_ them. I can't think and act like them, or like and dislike what they would, etc. And about Zuko… Well, _duh_, he's going to be different even if I tried to keep him in-character—Ozai's not his (horrible) father and Azula's not his (psychopathic) sister, and neither Iroh nor Ursa are there to help him.

I think that's it… If anyone has questions, which I doubt, feel free to message me.

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_"If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends?"_

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**chapter 01:**

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"Aang? Are you in here?" The wooden door creaked open, and a pale face peeked into the room. "Oh good. I've been looking everywhere for you." The crimson clad boy entered the well lit room, closing the door behind him.

Aang glanced up from his task briefly. "Hey Zuko," he welcomed weakly.

Zuko blinked at him in surprise. Usually Aang's greetings were quite…enthusiastic. This was certainly different. However, without giving it further thought, he shrugged it off. Everyone had their off days, right? Even chatterbox Aang. "Hey," he said, walking over to sit on Aang's bed.

Minutes passed with only the sound of the brush touching paper to fill it.

"What are you writing?" Zuko questioned, unable to tolerate the growing silence. Whereas he would normally welcome the rare reprieve from nonstop rambling, a silent Aang was beyond strange—it was unnatural.

"A letter…" Aang reluctantly answered, careful to restrain certain emotions from seeping through.

"To whom?"

Signing his letter, the Air Nomad placed his brush aside and rolled up his message, tying it with a simple string. "It's for Gyatso," he mumbled.

"Couldn't you just tell him whatever you wrote? He's practically within walking distance."

Silence. It finally dawned on Zuko that Aang wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Aang?"

"It's nothing." Aang forced a grin, still clutching the letter loosely in his hands. He let his grey eyes wander around the room. _Now, where would be a good, visible place to leave this?_

Zuko started at him suspiciously, disbelieving. "Of course it is."

The pillow on his bed seemed as good a place as any, Aang decided swiftly, standing up. He carefully positioned the scroll and stepped back. When his eyes roamed the room a second time, it was to ascertain that nothing necessary to his journey had been left behind. He was ready—or as ready as he would ever be. A sigh that was both frustrated and sad escaped him. He really, really didn't want to leave, but it was either that…or being forcefully separated from Gyatso. Maybe forever. He couldn't risk that, _w__ouldn't_ risk that.

"Enough," Zuko snapped, golden eyes flashing as he rose to his feet. He spun a tense Aang around to face him and stared him in the eye. "You're going to tell me what's going on, why you're moping and sighing." (Seriously, when did _Aang_ do those things? Zuko did that. Kuzon did that sometimes, too. But Aang?)

Wide, distraught but determined eyes stared back at him.

"And you're going to tell me _now_," the raven-haired boy finished.

"No, I'm not," Aang calmly told him, shrugging off pale hands. This was his mess and no one else needed to become involved. He glanced out the window anxiously. He had to leave soon and Zuko's presence prevented it.

Zuko scowled at the younger boy. "Aang, I can help. I'm your friend, remember?"

"I know, but…"

"Are the idiots bothering you again? Did Chen say you can't play Airball because it'd be unfair?" Perhaps it was time to set the chubby boy's pants on fire again, Zuko contemplated.

"No. It's…"

"Go on," Zuko coaxed, somewhat impatient.

Gyatso always did say that speaking to someone of your troubles helped, Aang mused, and he sorely wanted the pain in his chest to lessen, if only a little bit. "The monks want to separate Gyatso and me," he divulged with a frown, voice bitter.

Zuko's eyes widened. "They can't do that."

"It doesn't matter. I'm leaving so they won't get a chance to." As soon as the last word was out in the open, Aang winced. He hadn't meant to reveal _that_!

"I'm going with you," Zuko immediately commanded. His tone left no room for argument and implied that it would be foolish of Aang to try to deny the stubborn boy.

Except, Aang had always been a social creature. Always seeking out his friends for any reason, always wishing to spend time with someone rather than be alone. That simple reason was why he caved in, even as he attempted to dissuade Zuko. Attempted being the keyword. As soon as his mouth opened, Zuko proceeded to shush him.

"Shut it. Even if you don't take me, I'll follow you." Zuko then turned to a devious approach. "But, seeing as I can't exactly tell anyone, I'll have to find a way down from this temple myself. If I slip…" he left that open to Aang's wild imagination.

Aang gawked at him. "Okay, okay! You win!"

Zuko's countenance oozed of absolute smugness. (Smug, thy name is Zuko.) "Alright, let's go. We've wasted enough time already."

"And whose fault was that?" Aang couldn't help but tease lightly as they left the room.

Zuko smirked, "Obviously yours."

Reaching the end of the hall, they went their separate ways. Aang, who already had his belongings ready to go, headed towards the kitchens to grab some food for the trip, careful to escape notice as he walked while Zuko went to gather his own belongings.

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Mostly hidden from view, shielded by thick foliage, Appa grunted and the two teenage boys stood back to survey their work. They'd placed a brown saddle on the large bison and then filled it with their belongings and supplies.

Zuko was double-checking that they had everything they needed. _Water? Check. Food? Check. Map? Check. Dao swords? Check. Aang's staff? Check. Cl-…_

"Zuko," Aang whined shamelessly from his left, "you're slowing us down. We're gonna get caught!"

_Clothes? Check,_ Zuko finished his mental list as if no one had spoken. Then he shifted his attention to the younger boy. "Calm down," Zuko advised. "My father always said to be prepared for the unexpected. We can't just fly off and expect to survive out there." The irony that he, of all people, was telling Aang to be more patient was completely lost to him. "Anyway, everything's set." he announced, walking over to Appa's wide tail and climbing on to the bison's saddle adorned back. He made himself comfortable.

Aang grinned and jumped smoothly on to Appa's head with the aid of a small burst of wind. "Appa, yip yip!"

Appa bellowed and, after a flick of his tail, they were airborne.

Zuko winced. "That wasn't loud enough to attract attention at all," he spoke sarcastically.

"It's not like we warned him to be quiet," Aang defended his bison. "Besides, there are other bison around and I bet no one realized it was Appa." A second later, his mind turned to another matter. "So, where should we go first?" he asked brightly.

"Wherever. I don't have to be home for a few more days."

"Right."

While Aang busied himself with planning their future adventures for the next several days aloud, Zuko let his voice fade into the background and glanced about boredly. So far, there was nothing of interest. Unless you considered mountain tops, trees, and lazy, white clouds interesting, but he doubted many people would. As time passed and the scenery remained unchanged, Zuko briefly played with the thought of taking a nap before relinquishing it. Still, he laid down and closed his eyes, soaking up the rays of sun that made it past the drifting clouds.

In front of his lounging form, Aang's excited prattle finally came to a pause as he squinted his eyes until they became slits. "Hey, does that armadillo lion look like it's winking at us?"

If Zuko hadn't known Aang as long as he had, he would've hastily sat up, exclaiming a loud, "What!" and following the action with a pointed stare that asked, _Are you nuts?_ As it was, Zuko leisurely opened his eyes and asked, "What are you going on about, Aang?"

At his voice, Aang gave himself a mental pat on the back, congrulating himself for roping Zuko into conversation. Talking to yourself about upcoming events and how fun they'd be was okay for only so long. "It's right there, look!" he pointed energetically to the clouds.

Groaning, Zuko propped himself up on his elbows to gain a better view of the strangely shaped clouds. "I don't see anything," he griped. "They're jus-... Oh."

"So does it look like it's winking at you?"

"It actually does."

"Weird, huh? It reminds me of that dream I had once, after I accidentally ate a rotten fruit. There were winking, polka-dotted pies everywhere, and some attacked me! I never realized how ferocious pies could be... And then this cow hippo—it was enormous!—came over and started chasing me around, but I flew away with my glider. But it grew wings! Then came the pink clams and the-..." Aang rambled on happily.

Again, Zuko groaned and let himself fall back on to the saddle. _You're too much, Aang. Too much._

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Having left Monk Pasang and Monk Tashi, Gyatso walked through one of the numerous pagodas in the temple, thinking deeply of a way to ensure Aang would remain with him. Unfortunately, there weren't many options left to him. Already did his fellow monks believe that he had become too attached to the boy and that his judgement was therefore clouded in his compassion.

The constant presence of Monk Tashi in the matter didn't help. The man was completely overbearing and wouldn't budge in his decision to send Aang away. It was he who had pointed out Gyatso's strong bond with the boy, swaying the council.

As he walked through the hallways, the answer to the problem continued to elude him. Still, he would not give up without a good fight.

Reaching Aang's room, he proceeded to verbalize that. "Aang, I'm not going to let them take you away from me," he assured his charge as he opened the door. "Aang?"

He was met with an empty room.

He sighed softly before something on Aang's bed caught his attention. Apprehension quickly built up inside him even as he walked to retrieve it. Wise blue eyes traveled across the scroll and the wrinkles on his face became more pronounced. It was as he had feared: a farewell.

Lowering the letter, he gazed out the window. Watching the sky gradually darken, he prayed for Aang's safety.

He lingered for some minutes before departing to look for Zuko. He could only hope that the boy would understand and not fly into a rage at the news, what with his temper. Oh, he probably wouldn't be too mad at Aang, instead directing his anger at the Council of Elders (minus Gyatso, who he liked). A part of Gyatso couldn't help conjuring up a scenario in which Zuko, righteously indignant as only a prince could be, stood up to the old monks. Belatedly, he added fireballs to the scene.

He chuckled at the image as he arrived at Zuko's room.

However, this room was empty as well. And what belongings Zuko had brought along on his visit had vanished.

So Zuko had accompanied Aang, Gyatso concluded. It was a relief that Aang wouldn't be alone.

Exiting the room, he went to meditate.

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"I don't like those clouds," Zuko declared, golden gaze wary as it glared at the subjects of his observation.

At the moment, they were several leagues away from the Southern Air Temple and flying straight over vast ocean.

"Lighten up Zuko," Aang chirped, happy with the feel of the wind rushing past him and the ocean smell. "They're just little rain clouds."

Appa let out a short snort, voicing his own opinion.

"See? Appa agrees with me," Zuko, now resting at the front of the saddle instead of its center, gloated, reaching out to pat the bison's upper back. The fur was soft under his hand.

Situated at Appa's reins, Aang pouted and was about to proclaim that the two were ganging up on him when ominous thunder turned the mood solemn.

_Boom!_

The boys looked towards the turbulent clouds. By now, they were almost pitch-black; and still they continued to grow in size, until the group could no longer catch sight of blue sky before them.

They were quiet as another _Boom!_ filled the sky.

"Maybe we should turn around now," Aang suggested, penetrating the silence. At this point, it was fairly obvious that those weren't simple "little rain clouds".

"Yeah," Zuko agreed quietly. He continued to examine the massive clouds with cautious eyes, hoping that they were granted sufficient time to move away to relative safety. At the altitude which they were currently traveling at and even if they flew lower, he suspected that the possibility of becoming victims of lightning was rather high and he certainly wasn't looking forward to that danger. In addition, he also had to deal with the rain hampering his Firebending. He didn't think fire would do much here, if anything, but that didn't stop him from resenting that the ability was almost completely denied to him. "Stupid storm."

Having already changed Appa's course of direction, Aang laughed at his friend's grumbling. "Think of it this way, now we won't have to give Appa a bath."

Zuko shot him an incredulous look before the oncoming storm commanded their attention again.

_Crack!_

For a brief second, the world was painted a blinding white and the sound of lightning was deafening.

It began to drizzle, but that quickly became heavy rain.

Zuko grimaced, hating the cold, wet feeling. Already they were being soaked to the bone, it felt like, and the sheer weight of the rain forced his hair loose. Through shaggy, raven locks, he looked at Aang, who appeared as a blur to his eyes. Again, he cursed the storm. The rain was almost a solid sheet now, distorting the surroundings and reducing visibility to a pathetic number.

In front, Aang gritted his teeth, experiencing some trouble with steering Appa. The reins tied to the bison's horns were becoming hard to control and it was only because of a tight grip that they didn't slip straight from Aang's hands.

A streak of lightning illuminated the dark sky. Thunder followed its lead.

_Crack, boom!_

The piercing clatter resonated in the air above the churning ocean and made their hearts race. The worst of the storm approached.

_**Crack!**_

Forked lightning hit the air besides them, frightening Appa into frenzy. Screaming, Aang and Zuko held on for dear life. The following fracture in the sky nearby coerced the terrified bison into the raging ocean.

Everything became muffled.

_**boom… crack…**_

_**boom…**_

Appa resurfaced and everything became sharp again.

_**Crack!**_

The trio barely managed to gasp for air when a towering wave drove them back into the blue abyss.

_**boom…**_

Their lungs _burned_ and darkness crept into their vision.

Appa couldn't move, exhausted and scared; Zuko couldn't hold on to the saddle's handles, already half-unconscious and helpless to the current; Aang couldn't hold on to the reins, loosing consciousness and weak against the current knocking him away.

Slowly, they drifted downwards—sinking. The Sea gently coaxed them into her depth and she almost had them, bodies carefully cradled. They would die in her arms. (_Welcome_, she smiled enticingly.)

They would die,

die,

_die_.

Abruptly, Aang's eyes snapped open—glowing in unison with the five arrows tattooed on his body.

Quickly, he brought his fists together and forced the endless water away. A light colored sphere was formed and expanded until both Zuko and Appa were encased in it, too. Without a pause, the glowing boy froze the immediate surrounding water.

Stationary in a meditating pose, the glow dimmed and he joined his companions in the safety of oblivion.

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_I've wondered if a fanfic with this idea is out there on the site... I've yet to encounter one, but if there is, I'm really sorry. I'm not trying to copy anyone—nothing of the sort._

_Please **review**? I'd really appreciate feedback._

_~Erykha_


	2. Chapter 2

**disclaimer;** I don't own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_. Oh, and no, I'm _not_ writing this for my own profit.  
**warnings;** OCC-ness, lack of Beta, and a weird update schedule 'cause I write whenever I can get the right words out

Notes are on chapter 1 and they still apply. Unless I say otherwise about something.

Oh, and I'm writing this story with the expectation that you guys know who is who.

_A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who's either reviewed, favorite'd, or alerted the story. You all brighten my day!_

_Enjoy._

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**chapter 02:**

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Sokka was having a bad day. Really, he was. Not only had his younger sister ruined any chance of him catching the fish he so rightfully deserved, but she had also decided to throw a tantrum. Which just happened to destroy the giant iceberg behind her, and had them almost thrown off of the slate of ice which they were currently on and into the freezing water.

"You've gone from weird to freakish, Katara," he announced.

"I did all that?" Katara asked in wonder. She couldn't help the burst of pride that welled up in her. Subconsciously, she wondered if her mother would also well up with pride in her Waterbending ability.

"Yep. Congratulations."

She attempted to ignore his sarcasm, but ended up glaring icicles at Sokka anyway. She tried to keep in mind that Gran-Gran wouldn't be too happy if she went home brotherless.

"What?" he asked defensively, feeling the pressure of her glare.

Below them, a light blue glow began to gradually increase in intensity, capturing their attention. They were pushed back as the origin of the glow floated up to the surface. When the water finally settled down, they loosened their hold on the ice and stood up for a better view.

Taking a step forward, and then another, Katara caught a clear glimpse of a…was that a boy?

Behind her, staring warily at the sight, Sokka went ahead and added a weird, round, glowy iceberg thing to his ever growing list of strange sights (which was inspired by Katara and her Waterbending magic weirdness).

In the bright orb, glowing eyes shot opened.

"He's alive!" Katara gasped. She quickly grabbed Sokka's club from his back and ran forward, leaping on the smaller ice sheets to get to her destination.

"Katara, stop! That thing might be dangerous!" Sokka called after her. When it became obvious that she wouldn't return like a normal, sane person would, he reluctantly followed, spear in hand.

By now, the brown-haired girl was busy whacking at the iceberg with as much strength as she could muster. _Come on… Break_, she urged, eyes alight with determination.

_Whack!_

_Whack!_

_Whack!_

Sokka rolled his eyes at her, but stayed put and held his tongue (and let him tell you just how hard it was to let that opening go—just think of all the potential quips lost!). If the thing really was dangerous, it wouldn't do for the man in the situation to be armed with the less deadlier weapon. _Sorry, Club, you've served me well and all, but the Spear has you beat today_, Sokka tried to communicate to one of his favorite weapons. After all, the spear, once thrown, would enable him to gain enough time to grab Katara and make a run for it to safer distance. (Of course, that was only if the attack failed, Sokka quickly explained, because men like him did not run away.)

_Whack!_

_Whack!_

The ice caved in under her persistent efforts and out rushed a torrent of air from the hole created.

Katara, being the nearest, was forced back before Sokka was, allowing him to ground himself and shield her from further harm. Simultaneously, the siblings stared on in suspense.

Commencing at the small opening, an enormous fracture promptly formed, expelling another massive torrent of air as it ran along the entirety of the sphere before exploding wide open in a flourish. Unexpectedly, a column of pure, white-blue light shot into the sky, embellished by the sudden Aurora Australis.

Their blue eyes widened at the phenomenon.

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Aboard one of the Fire Nation's more simple warships, the Helmsman gaped at the extraordinary show of lights that shouldn't have been possible considering it was daylight. "What are you people waiting for? Call Lieutenant Jee!" he shouted down at the two crew members on deck.

His command spurred the shocked the men into action. Without word, one of them walked briskly into the lower deck. Down below, after taking a haphazard left turn in hopes that the Lieutenant was in that direction, the crewman was lucky enough to come across said lieutenant. "Lieutenant Jee, sir!"

The man turned murky gold eyes to the crewman, but didn't stop walking. "Yes?"

"Sir, we've spotted a strange light."

"How does that concern us?"

"We figured it came from a powerful source, sir. Perhaps…" the crewman trailed off, hesitant to continue. He didn't need to. His superior quietly completed the sentence for him.

_The Avatar._ Brusquely, Lieutenant Jee changed direction, heading down another hall.

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From the destroyed iceberg, a glowing boy emerged. A beat later, all the ethereal lights (both the beam and the boy's) faded out of existence and he collapsed.

"Oh no!" Katara rushed out of Sokka's arms to avert the mysterious boy's fall. Under the momentum of his slight weight, she was forced to lower both of herself and him on to their knees. Knowing that couldn't be too comfortable for him, she carefully adjusted him to half-lay on the soft ice—which, thanks to the blast of air, was more snow than ice now—and to half-rest in her arms. Task completed, she took in the boy's features.

Behind her, a frowning Sokka used the butt of his spear to poke the boy.

"Sokka!" Katara warned.

Extremely knowledgeable of the consequences of his sister's wrath, Sokka backed up of. However, he continued to glare at the bald boy. _And what's with the tattoos?_ he wondered, raising an eyebrow. _The clothes are weird, too._

"Ugh…" Aang stirred. Grey eyes blinked open, vision bleary. With another blink, the haziness cleared, allowing him to see the dark-skinned, blue eyed girl above him clearly. In a weak voice, he spoke, "I have…something important…to ask you…"

Katara's concern for him grew and she leaned in, eager to alleviate his pain. "What is it?" she asked, voice gentle and soothing.

Out of the blue, his sleepy visage transformed into a more energetic one. "Will you go penguin sledding with me?" he chirped.

Surprised, Katara barely managed an answer. "Umm, sure?"

Grinning, Aang floated upwards on to his feet. Then he finally noticed his surroundings. "Where am I?" he wondered, gazing at the nearby icebergs and noting the appearance of the two who found him.

Sokka snapped back to reality and raised his spear, the blade of bone pointed at the strange boy. "We ask the questions here!"

Katara rolled her eyes at him.

Wide grey eyes turned to him. "You do?"

"Yes. Now tell us how you got in the ice and why you aren't frozen!"

Aang became perplexed. "That was more of an order than a question," he noted sagely.

Sokka twitched in annoyance.

"I'm Katara, and the paranoid one is Sokka. What's your name?" Katara interrupted before her brother could do anything.

Aang's eyes now turned to her and he smiled. "I'm Aa-…aahh…aahhh…_aaachooooo_!" he sneezed, involuntarily shooting up into the air.

The siblings gaped at him. (He seemed to inspire that a lot.)

After gently landing back on his feet and sniffling, Aang continued as if nothing had happened, "I'm Aang."

"You… You just flew up ten feet into the air!" Sokka spluttered.

"You're an Airbender," Katara concluded excitedly.

_Snore._

Aang whirled around to face the damaged iceberg and rushed forward, Airbending himself over the slope in an effort to reach the cause of the sound. "Appa!" he cried out in happy relief, spotting his bison. Sliding down, he used a current of air to hop on to Appa's head and held himself up by grabbing handfuls of white fur.

Katara and Sokka exchanged a look and walked around the slope to meet up with him. What they encountered shocked them. While Sokka's jaw dropped comically, Katara studied the large creature, attempting to figure out its species.

"I'm glad you're okay, Appa," Aang nuzzled the bison, face burrowing into the bison's brown fur.

At his touch, Appa's eyes wearily blinked open and he yawned before shaking himself into full awareness.

Aang giggled at the shake, allowing his body to slide downwards to the ground.

As his master descended, Appa's tongue ran out to lick him affectionately, causing Aang to laugh some more.

"What _is_ that thing?" Sokka continued to gawk, thinking that whatever it was, it was huuuuge. Absently, he wondered if it tasted good when cooked.

Aang opened his mouth to respond, but froze as he realized something. "Zuko!" he gasped in remembrance.

"The thing's a Zuko?" Sokka eyed the creature critically. "Funny name."

Katara elbowed him. "Would it kill you to be polite?"

"Why, yes, yes it would."

The siblings were momentarily forgotten again as Aang sprung high into the air and on to Appa's saddle. "Zuko?" he called, but no one was there. He frowned, becoming worried. Then he caught sight of something red on the ice, to Appa's right. "Zuko!" he grinned, floating down to his friend.

The raven-haired boy was curled up in the snow, instinctively trying to conserve heat. If his sudden shiver was any indication, it wasn't working too well and almost nonexistent wisps of vapor soon began to form about his form as he subconsciously upped his body heat to combat the cold, biting air.

Aang carefully reached out to shake him gently. "Zuko, wake up."

Zuko twitched but otherwise ignored him, continuing to slumber.

Frowning at the still form, Aang was sorely tempted with the idea of employing one of his and Kuzon's favorite methods to wake up a stubborn Zuko. However, well aware that they were on _ice_, he relinquished the thought in favor of health issues and shook Zuko again—harder this time.

"Go away," Zuko groaned, swatting at his hand and missing. He was barely coherent, a lethargic feeling prevailing over him.

"No," Aang grinned, growing more amused when Zuko moodily turned his back on him.

As Aang persisted in his shaking and Zuko resisted him, Katara and Sokka peeked around Appa, who they had decided was friendly enough (nevermind that he had sneezed on a poor, unsuspecting Sokka).

"What are you doing back here, Aang?" Katara questioned, eyes alight with curiosity as she walked over to him. She was followed by a grossed out Sokka, who grumbled darkly at Appa.

At her voice, Zuko's eyes opened a margin, body tensing.

"Oh, nothing much. Just waking up my lazy friend," Aang told her cheerfully.

What was that? Zuko snapped to attention. _I'm not lazy,_ he argued somewhat heatedly from the confines of his mind, still unwilling to move.

"But he's being really stubborn," the Airbender finished.

"Maybe I can help," Katara volunteered, smiling. "I've got plenty of experience waking Sokka up."

Behind them, Sokka had finally rid himself of the green snot and had let his grumbling fade. He looked over at them boredly.

And saw _red_.

Literally.

"Get back, Katara!" he rushed forward to grab her, jaw set. Hand around her upper arm, he pulled her behind him as he again threatened the orange and yellow clad boy at spear-point. "He's with the Fire Nation! Just look at his _friend_," he spat. "I bet that beam of light from before was a signal."

Looking past a surprised Aang, she did. Black hair, pale skin, red and gold clothes… She turned hurt and fearful blue eyes at Aang. "Aang? Is that true?"

The boy in question didn't know what to say to their dilemma, lost. "What's going on…?" he asked hesitantly, eyes traveling back and forth between the siblings' faces. He glanced at Appa to check up on him, and found his bison had gone back to sleep. He didn't know whether that relieved him or not.

"Don't play dumb!" snapped Sokka harshly.

Meanwhile, Katara withdrew further, hiding behind her brother without a fuss. What if the Fire Nation was already on its way, she wondered bleakly. What if they destroyed everything this time, instead of just taking the Waterbenders? What if they killed everyone who was left—the elders, and the women, and the children?

Aang tried again, now attempting to reach the brown-haired girl. "What's going on, Katara?"

"Don't talk to my sister," Sokka growled.

The next thing Aang knew, the sharp edge of the spear had gotten too close for comfort and continued to get closer still.

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Stride as nonchalant as ever, Mai returned to her room, bored with the ship again. Arriving at her door, she paused. "You can stop following me now," she droned without a backwards glance.

"Forgive me, my Lady," her attendant bowed, "but I received explicit orders from your father. I am to tend to your every need."

"What I need is some peace and quiet," Mai told her, finally peeking at the woman over her shoulder.

"Yes, well…" the attendant, who also doubled as a personal guard, trailed off.

"If you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of nowhere," Mai drawled, hinting at the lack of danger to her person in this place.

"But your father-…"

Seeing the conversation would lead to a dead end, Mai walked into her room. She closed the door shut behind her and went over to sit on her bed, sighing. After a minute of doing nothing but staring at the walls, she looked around for one of her books to read—particularly one that she hadn't yet read along the journey. Eventually, she settled for her favorite instead and returned to her lavished bed. Once situated with her back against the headboard and the book in her lap, she opened it to her favorite scene in the novel.

Halfway through it, her mind began to drift off.

She couldn't help but think of the reason why she was _here_, surrounded by endless water and floating icebergs and cold snow, when she could be home where the climate was at least warm.

Her father was to blame.

Or, no, the real fault resided with that overly paranoid fool of a council member who happened to think one must never be too cautious.

The Fire Lord had taken into account the council member's rather solid argument, and he had agreed. After all, it would not do for everything they'd planned and fought for to go to waste, simply because they had become supercilious in thinking that the Avatar's presence would remain absent from the world. In the end, Mai's father had somehow gone forth, volunteering his eldest for the expedition in the belief that it would further enhance their social standing. The fact that said expedition was virtually guaranteed, realistically speaking, and therefore safe had been a gracious plus to her father, who secretly placed his family before even Fire Lord Ozai.

The council member's philosophy had been a good one. But not when it involved Mai being shipped off her country to the South Pole, of all places, in a ridiculous pursuit that ended decades ago.

The Avatar hadn't shown his, or her, face in the last hundred years. What made anyone think that he'd shown up now, of all times? What made now so special? Besides the approach of Sozin's Comet, that is.

There was a knock at her door.

"What is it?" she inquired.

"My Lady, Lieutenant Jee has informed me that his crewmen have witnessed the release of a powerful source. They…think it might be the Avatar," the voice of Mai's attendant wafted through the door.

If Mai had been anyone but herself, her stoic expression would've been lost in shock and disbelief.

_Well, what do you know, _she thought wryly._ The Avatar might be alive, after all._

"What do we do, my Lady?"

She stood up and opened the door, book forgotten. "Tell Lieutenant Jee to set course for the Avatar." Maybe she could return home sooner than expected.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Before anyone could decipher what was happening, Zuko's right leg had shot out, weight supported by hands now resting flat on the ground as he spun clockwise to trip an endangered Aang. As the Airbender fell back on to the snow yelping and Zuko's right hand planted itself on his opposite side for a better support, Zuko's other leg kicked up, breaking off the spear's blade.

It landed several feet away from them.

A beat later, Zuko was standing, glaring flaming daggers at the dark-skinned boy. "And just what do you think you're doing?" he snarled at the older teen.

Sokka and Katara stared at him with wide eyes, taken aback by the sudden ferocity he presented.

Aang quickly floated back to his feet and raised his hands in a pacifying manner, fully aware that the Firebender was extremely close to hurling fireballs at his new acquaintances. "Zuko, I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding," he placated.

Zuko huffed at his optimism. "That's still no reason to attack you," he scowled. "It's not honorable to attack someone who isn't fighting back."

"What do you know about a warrior's honor, Fire Nation?" Sokka regained himself.

"Apparently, more than you do," Zuko derived, eyes turning back to him.

They glared death at each other.

Aang watched them nervously. "Um, let's just go Zuko. We needed to get back to the Temple anyway, right?"

At the mention of a temple, Katara snapped out of her funk. "That's right! You're an Airbender," she exclaimed, face brightening.

Sokka glanced back at her. "So?"

"So, how is he alive when all the others died?"

Aang and Zuko made a double take. "What!"

"The Air Nomads aren't dead," Zuko stated firmly. "Why are you lying to us?" he glared at the brown-haired girl.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean they died?" Aang asked hurriedly, beyond worried and starting to get a little bit scared. "We just came from there!"

Sokka slumped as the tension in his body disappeared. "You guys really believe that, don't you?" he mused, watching their expressions closely. "I guess you can't be Fire Nation if you don't know."

Katara gave a pause. "What do you mean you 'just came from there'?"

"Exactly what Aang meant," Zuko responded. "We just came from there, and from what we saw, _everyone was alive_."

Beside him, Aang nodded enthusiastically.

The siblings exchanged a look. "But how can that be? They've been dead for the past hundred years," Katara informed them quietly.

Aang and Zuko were silent.

"Maybe…" Aang searched for hope. "Maybe they're in hiding. Yeah, that's it!" he grinned. "They must've seen whatever attacked them coming so they went into hiding."

"The Air Nomads are powerful benders." Zuko added. "It would be impossible to wipe them all out."

Katara smiled at them, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Whatever. Now explain why you're with a kid from the Fire Nation." Sokka jabbed at Zuko with his broken spear-stick.

The "kid from the Fire Nation" swatted the stick away, scowling.

"He's my friend," Aang said. "Why wouldn't I be with him?"

"I give up. You people are from another world," Sokka groaned. "I'm going back home to where things make sense."

He ran out of ground to trudge on as miles and miles of sea and floating, thin glaciers rushed to meet him.

As he stared blankly at the desolate image, Aang spoke up, "If you guys are stuck, we can give you a lift." He Airbended himself up to sit on Appa's head, ignoring Zuko's hissed out, "What?".

"Really? We'd love a ride!" Katara smiled happily at him.

While Aang helped Katara on to Appa and woke up Appa again, Zuko climbed up and sat at the front, leaning against the bridge of the saddle. Although he doubted the Water Tribe siblings had the appropriate weapons to do anything, he couldn't bring himself to trust them after the previous attack. Never turn your back to the enemy, one of the instructors that his father had assigned to him had said. Zuko didn't intend to. Not if he had something to say about it.

Finally seated in the saddle, Katara called out to her brother. "Hurry up Sokka."

"No," Sokka crossed his arms. "I'm not getting on some fluffy snot monster."

Katara watched him, a critical eyebrow arched. "Are you hoping another monster will come along and give you a free ride home? You know, before you _freeze_ to death?"

Sokka opened his mouth to respond, and quickly closed it. He scowled.

"Just get on already," Zuko ordered, tired of waiting.

Sokka grumbled under his breath, but neared and climbed on to Appa using the bison's thick fur. Once in the saddle, he slouched, sulking.

Katara gave him a pointed look, saying, _Was that so hard?_

Aang grinned back at them and then turned forward, shaking the reins. "First time flyers, hold on tight. Appa, yip yip!"

Appa flapped his tail and jumped into the air. However, instead of flying as Aang and Zuko had expected, he landed in the water and began to swim.

"Eh," Aang blinked, "Appa's just tired. He'll be soaring through the skies after a little rest. You'll see."

"Of course," Sokka agreed sarcastically.

Katara shook her head at him while Zuko glared.

There was a minute of silence before Katara interrupted it, now looking directly at Zuko. "We were never properly introduced," she told him. "I'm Katara, and this," she pointed at the teenaged boy next to her, "is Sokka, my brother."

"Zuko," he grunted.

"It's nice to meet you," Katara smiled politely.

Zuko nodded at her, unwilling to speak again.

Sokka blinked, momentarily leaving his cynic mood. "Zuko? Wasn't that this thing's name?"

From a groaning Appa's head, Aang laughed, overhearing the conversation.

"No," Zuko said tersely. "_His_ name is Appa." Then, as an afterthought, "And he's not a 'thing', he's a flying bison."

Sokka glanced down at the swimming Appa. Emphasis on the swimming part. "Riight. And Katara's my flying sister," he deadpanned.

Said sister shot him an annoyed look.

No one spoke after that, either lost in thought, sulking, steering, or trying not to fall asleep again.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Hey," Katara called to Aang quietly, crawling to the front of the saddle, careful to not disturb a sleeping Sokka or a sleeping Zuko who was still resting at the front.

It was nighttime now. The siblings had been surprised to see how far away they had been forced to drift by the water currents.

Aang's eyes shifted from the stars to her. "Hey. Whatcha thinking about?"

"I was wondering…do you know what happened to the Avatar?" she asked him.

"Uhh," Aang rattled his brain for a response, disconcerted. "No. I don't know what happened to him. I never met him, personally," he lied. "Sorry."

Katara's shoulders slumped slightly. "It's okay. I was just curious." She turned back to her spot, "Goodnight."

"Sleep tight," Aang half-mumbled, eyes downcast.

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

_Heh, it was only after I posted the first chapter that it dawned on me that I had pretty much set myself up for a gigantic headache with this story.  
Too late now, though. I've already posted something and I'm not backing out._

_~Erykha_


	3. Chapter 3

**disclaimer;** I don't own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_ and I don't really want to. No profit is gained from this fanfic.  
**warnings;** OCC-ness, lack of Beta, and a weird update schedule 'cause I write whenever I can get the right words out

Notes are on chapter 1.

_A/N: A-_hem_! I guess this is where I apologize for the wait… So, I'm sorry. Perhaps it really was too selfish of me to go into a mini-hiatus so that I could enjoy my summer vacation. But seeing that this summer is extremely probable to be my last "free" one, without actual worries of college and transcripts and money and work and all that adult stuff, I can't find it in me to be regretful. _

_Enjoy the chapter!_

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* * *

**

**chapter 03:**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

Zuko woke up around the time Appa finally reached what seemed to be the main glacier. He stretched and glanced over his shoulder at a sleeping Aang, who was lying on Appa's head. Watching a bit of drool escape from the corner of the bald boy's mouth, he smiled indulgently at the sight. Then he turned back to the Southern Water Tribe siblings (he had deduced that to be where they were based on the fact that the North Pole was too far for it to be possible that he and Aang had ended up there). As expected, the gangly teenaged boy—Sokka, if he recalled correctly—was utterly dead to the world, sprawled out in one of the sides of the saddle and snoring. When he turned to the friendly girl—Katara, was it?—he became startled.

"Why are you awake?" he half-inquired, half-demanded suspiciously.

She barely managed to cover her yawn. "I needed to give Aang the right directions," she told him wearily.

The image of a drooling Aang surfaced to the forefront of Zuko's mind. "He's asleep, though," he eyed her critically.

"Yeah. I was going to wake," her own yawn interrupted her, "…wake him up soon," Katara informed him, attempting to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

Zuko grunted.

Katara observed him with an amused glint in her eyes, slightly more awake now that she had someone to talk to. "You can stop being suspicious of me, you know," she smiled. "I'm not going to attack you."

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Your brother did."

"Sokka's…" Katara tried to find a word, but couldn't. "Well, he's Sokka."

"And you let him," Zuko continued as if she hadn't spoken.

Katara frowned at that. "I'm sorry. I really am. It's just that…" she trailed off, unsure of whether she should tell Zuko. "The war has gone on long enough," she concluded solemnly, eyes soulful and sad.

"What war?" he immediately demanded. "There is no war." His words sounded like a lie to him as he caught a glimpse of the tired sorrow in Katara's blue eyes.

"Zuko," she began, voice soft, "the four nations have been at war for a hundred years." She looked at him curiously. "Just how long have you and Aang been stuck in that iceberg?"

"I…" Zuko searched for an answer. "I'm guessing the last hundred years?" It seemed about right. She kept saying it all commenced one hundred years ago, that the Air Nomads hadn't been alive for a century, that there was a hundred-year war still going on right now.

Seeing the clothes Aang wore, Appa the flying bison himself, the fact that an Airbender and a teen from the Fire Nation were friends, and that the two's knowledge of the current events in the world was extremely outdated, Katara was inclined to agree. "I think you're right," she said in astonishment.

Zuko gave a noncommittal sound.

Katara turned her attention to their surroundings. "We better take a right turn here," she said. She was surprised when Appa turned right without some kind of prompting from Aang.

"He can understand us sometimes," Zuko explained, seeing her amazed expression. "Especially little stuff like that."

"Oh."

"Why don't you go to sleep now?" Zuko offered. "I won't be going back to sleep anytime soon." No, he'd already slept most of the afternoon away. He blamed the cause on being trapped in an iceberg for, as he'd decided, a hundred years. It had left him with a tired ache in his limbs. He supposed that's why Aang continued to slumber even after he'd accidentally raised his voice when asking about the war. (He had no explanation for the continuation of Sokka's.)

"Are you sure?" Katara couldn't help but pose the question. She yawned at the reminder of sleep.

Zuko nodded.

"Okay." Then she instructed him where to go, keeping the directions as simple as she could and pointing out certain obvious landmarks that would help. "You got all that?" she asked, wanting to be certain they wouldn't get lost.

"Yes," he answered, becoming exasperated.

Katara nodded to herself in satisfaction and laid down beside Sokka, not so gently pushing him to his own side of the saddle. She ignored his groan of disapproval at being moved. It wasn't long before her breaths evened, fast asleep.

Zuko's gold eyes wandered up to the starry sky. _I wonder how much the world has changed…_

Appa making another right turn broke him from his reverie.

"No, Appa, we continue straight on from here," Zuko corrected quietly. Although he now knew the two boys would remain in deep sleep for at least several more hours, he couldn't be too sure of Katara. He, himself, was a light sleeper and the slightest sound was enough to awaken him—unless he was truly exhausted.

The bison followed his direction.

Zuko gave him a pat on the back in response and decided to pay more attention.

Silent hours passed by before he could make out what he assumed to be a small village in the short distance as they gradually reached the top of a snow hill. It was enclosed by a low, roughly-circular wall of snowy ice and, inside, a sizeable igloo and eight tents ran in a circle around the communal fire pit that was placed at the very center of the village. Several smaller igloos clustered by the northern block, close to the tower that had been built into the protective wall. An open entrance laid at the south, leading into the community.

Zuko took note of all that in the luminosity of pale moonlight.

As they approached, he began to question people's reactions to a ten-ton bison that carried four teenagers into their village. The carried being two of their own kin, and two strangers—one of whom was an Airbender while the other was a Firebender from the Fire Nation. He rapidly deducted that they wouldn't be too happy, especially with him, and stopped Appa.

"Ka-…" He cleared his throat, hoarse from not speaking for an extended amount of time. Then he tried again, "Katara." he called.

The sleeping girl didn't respond.

"Katara," he prodded. "Wake up."

It didn't work.

"Katara."

She shifted, but still wouldn't wake.

"Katara."

He was speaking too low for her to hear him.

_Oh, for the love of Agni…_ Zuko dropped the mantle of hushed silence. "Katara!" he uttered sharply.

Katara finally woke with a jerk, the commanding tone rousing her. "What?" she gazed at him blearily. She felt as if she hadn't slept a wink throughout the last few hours.

"We're at your village," Zuko stated. "I don't want to get any closer without one of you awake to explain our presence."

"Our?" Katara asked dazedly. The last she remembered, she and Sokka didn't need to explain their own presence at home.

"Aang and me," Zuko cleared.

"Oh." She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Right," she regained her bearings. "I'll alert Gran-Gran about you guys." She threw a leg over the left side of the saddle and carefully climbed down to walk the short distance to her home.

Zuko hoped her "Gran-Gran" didn't prohibit them from entering. He was beginning to get hungry.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"You speak the truth," Kanna observed after she had been woken up—having been asleep, beaten by her old age as she had waited up for her missing grandchildren—and told the story.

"Please, Gran-Gran?" Katara begged. "Let them stay! I promise they won't be any trouble. Sokka already attacked them and they don't have anywhere else to go."

Kanna remained quiet.

"Zuko won't hurt anyone," _No__t without a cause, at least_, she added in her mind, "and Aang's an Airbender! An _Airbender_, Gran-Gran. He's the last of his kind! We can't turn him—neither of them—away!"

"Tell me more about the Fire Nation child. This…Zuko," Kanna entreated, eyes obscure. The foreign name felt odd to her as she spoke it.

Katara gave a pause, carefully considering her words. "I don't know much, because I just met them. But Zuko's alright. The only time he acted violently was when he tried to protect Aang from Sokka's spear. Other than that, he hasn't attacked us at all."

Kanna _hmm_-d before facing another question, "Is he a Firebender?"

"Maybe," Katara mused. "I'm not sure. He hasn't created any fire. But he's had to have some training to be able to move like he did." Honestly, she still couldn't get the image out of her mind. He was fast! It had been as amazing as Aang shooting off ten feet into the air.

For a few, long minutes, Kanna didn't say anything, deep in thought.

Katara was tempted to bite her lower lip in worry.

"Alright, my kind little Waterbender," Kanna conceded. "They can stay." _But I will keep a close on this Zuko._

"Thanks, Gran-Gran!" Katara practically squealed in joy, hugging her grandmother. "I'll go tell Zuko." She loosened her arms from the embrace and exited the tent.

Kanna gazed after her, smiling, and began to make sleeping arrangements as she waited.

It wasn't long before her granddaughter returned, along with Sokka and who she guessed were Aang and Zuko.

Katara entered first, moving aside to hold the tent door open and to let the boys pass after her. She was followed by a widely yawning Sokka and, finally, an exasperated raven-haired boy who stayed close to a bald one who clung to a staff, more asleep than he was awake.

"Talk later," Sokka enunciated. "Sleep now." He dragged himself over to his bed and flopped on to it, absently throwing his covers over himself. He was snoring away again in no time.

Kanna watched him in amusement before letting her attention drift to Zuko. "I am Kanna. You may reside in our village for as long as you need."

Katara had said as much, Zuko thought back. "Thank you," he voiced, inclining his head in gratitude.

"You're welcome," she returned politely. "Now, your friend Aang can sleep here," she pointed to one of the spare cots the village had, left behind by the men and stored along with pots and pans in a smaller tent. "You can have the other," she motioned to the cot resting besides the aforementioned one. Both of them made the large tent seem more cramped than it already was, but it had been all that could be done on such short notice. "Goodnight," she headed back to her own bed.

Katara smiled at her, "Goodnight, Gran Gran." before turning to Zuko. "Do you need any help with him?"

He shook his head, "No, I can handle this. You should go back to sleep."

"If you say so…" Katara eyed him dubiously but complied, tired. She headed to her own cot, removed her thick coat and almost jumped into her covers trying to escape the cold, night air. Wrapping the blankets around her tightly, she fell asleep.

As quietly as he could, Zuko maneuvered both himself and Aang to the spare cots, grunting slightly under the extra weight the younger boy presented. Navigating inside the small gap between the makeshift beds, he carefully deposited Aang on to one.

Aang's eyes flickered open and he uttered something incoherent.

Zuko reached for the blanket placed at the edge of the bed and pulled it up to cover the Airbender. Finished, he sat down on his own cot. With a half-lidded gaze, he reflected on the glimpse of emotion he'd caught behind "Gran Gran" Kanna's eyes. Hardly anyone had ever looked at him like that. _Like I'm not…_ He shook the thoughts out of his head and decided that maybe he needed more sleep. He grabbed his blanket, pulled it over himself as he laid down, and closed his eyes.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The crew was up early, and having already eaten breakfast, some were busy readying the ship while others practiced their Firebending. Inside, in one of the many rooms on the lower deck, Lieutenant Jee observed the stoic Mai. As much as the experienced man disliked following a fifteen year-old around, it was she who had been placed in charge and therefore Jee would follow her orders. It helped that she respectfully referred to him as Lieutenant and that she let everyone go about doing their own business on the ship without questioning whether it was the correct way.

"What would you have us do, Lady Mai?" he inquired, pushing his thoughts on the matter away. He had his own opinion on their next course of action, but contented himself to listen for the moment. If the girl's plan had holes, he would fill them in. If she needed advise, he would give her some.

Mai glanced up from polishing one of her knives. All she wanted was peace and quiet, and something untroublesome to entertain her. Nonetheless, she strategized while moving on to polish another knife of hers, having already hidden the previous one in her sleeve.

First of all, they had to assume that the Avatar they were facing was a fully realized one and while he would lack earth to bend, he still had plenty of water, air, and fire at his disposal. In any case, he would prove to be a formidable opponent. They couldn't instigate a fight and expect to win against him—not the Avatar, whose power was infinite.

However, everyone had a weakness. It was a fact—one that Azula wouldn't allow her to forget. You had to search for those vulnerabilities and never disregard one over the other just because of size. Because they could be somewhere out in the open or they could be buried twenty feet under, but they were definitely _there_. And once found, they could break a person if everything was played just right.

So, what was the mighty Avatar's weakness?

What was the one thing that he, for the lack of a better word, cared about?

The answer came easily to Mai, after having heard the numerous Avatar stories/rumors growing up. Said tales had one thing in common.

The Avatar was concerned with his duty to the world and to the people. Above all: the balance.

A thought came to her. "Tell me, Lieutenant," she glanced up at the man, past the glinting metal of the dagger in her hands, "is the Southern Water Tribe different from the Northern?" It was a subject that had never interested her.

"The Southern Tribe seemed to have a more open mind, allowing their women to fight whereas the Northern one did not. That was the most notable difference in the reports," the Lieutenant told her, wondering where the sudden question stemmed from.

Mai made a little, incomprehensible sound, watching her reflection on her now glistening weapon. In other words, the Tribes' cultures were dissimilar. Therefore, if this tribe was completely wiped out from existence (nevermind its current defeated state), the sorry "balance" for today's world would be further disrupted, becoming even more unstable.

And that power source had been noted to be extremely close in proximity to the northern shore line of the South Pole, where previous reports indicated that a pitifully small village dwelled.

She put her dagger away and relayed her thoughts in the most concise manner possible. At the end, she added one more thing, "We'll be using the nearest village as hostage. Prepare your men."

Lieutenant Jee nodded an affirmative at the order, standing from his chair and exiting the room. The plan wasn't a bad one and he had nothing to add to it.

Mai settled down to wait, occupying the time with sharpening and polishing her weapons.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Aang jerked awake, taking sharp, ragged intakes of breath as his heart beat furiously within his chest. Rising to a sitting position, he worked to calm himself.

A canteen of water was shoved into his face.

"Drink," commanded Zuko, frowning with silent concern.

Still panting, Aang obeyed, hands coming up to grab the offered item. He brought the water to his mouth and gulped it down.

"Slow down or you'll choke," Zuko warned him.

Aang did, slightly. A second later the canteen was empty and, lowering it from his lips, he took a deep breath to further relax himself. Finally back to normal, his eyes found Zuko to his right.

"What were you dreaming about?" probed Zuko.

Aang tried to remember. All he could dredge up was a massive amount of water, cold air, blinding light, and the sound of drums. And fear. "The storm," he mumbled. "I was dreaming about the storm."

Zuko grimaced at the remembrance. "Stupid storm," he grumbled, wishing he could forget it entirely. It was an experience that he could've done without. Fire and water didn't mix.

Aang grinned at him and then gave a cursory glance to his surroundings. "Hey, where are we?"

"In Katara's village," Zuko answered.

"Oh." Aang observed the tent with curiosity for a minute and then faced Zuko again. "How are the people here?" he asked excitedly, always happy to come across new people.

Zuko had barely opened his mouth to speak when Katara burst into the tent.

"Is Aang awake yet?" She saw the boy in question watching her. "Oh good! Come on, you two. Everyone's been waiting to meet you." she smiled and waited as patiently as she could for them to rise.

While Zuko simply stood up, having been ready for a while now, Aang searched for his tunic (having taken it off sometime during the night) and found it tangled with his blanket. He quickly put it on, oblivious to Katara's study of his tattoos. Before he could say something, Katara grabbed both him and Zuko by the hand and pulled them out into the open, almost forcing him to leave his staff behind.

A small crowd, composed of women and children, met them.

"Aang, Zuko, meet the entire village. Entire village, Aang," she pointed at said boy, "and Zuko," she pointed at the other, respectively. She smiled encouragingly at her village.

Aang waved at them brightly, smiling widely, while Zuko gave a nervous smile and a small wave in turn.

They received strained smiles and a pair of women who were staring directly at Zuko, at his blood-red outfit outlined with gold, drew their child close.

Aang thought it was directed at him and his lively demeanor faltered, but he preserved. Zuko knew better.

"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that?" Aang searched for an answer.

Kanna, who had been standing a small distance away from the rest, came forward. "Well, no one has seen an Airbender in a hundred years. We all thought you were extinct until my grandchildren found you."

Aang did a double-take, "Extinct?"

Katara intervened before the conversation could head in that direction. "Aang, this is my grandmother," she introduced.

Aang bowed. "Pleased to meet you."

Walking over, Sokka grabbed the staff out of the Airbender's hand. "What is this supposed to be, anyway?" He examined it. "You can't stab anything with this," he criticized, his mind labeling it as a lame weapon to own.

"It's not for stabbing," Aang told him, creating a jet of air to suck it back into his hand. "It's for Airbending." He proved his point by opening the staff into a glider with red wings.

A little girl pushed herself away from her mother. "Magic trick! Do it again!" she ordered gleefully. "Again!" The rest of the children joined her.

Aang smiled at them. "Not magic, Airbending," he gently correct their error. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly."

Sokka laughed at him. "Humans can't fly."

Still smiling, Aang launched himself into the air with his glider and soared. The villagers below pointed and stared in wonder and he entertained them further by doing loops. Several of the younger boys extended their arms and began to run in circles, trying to copy Aang.

Sokka scowled at being proved wrong while Zuko grinned up at his friend.

"It's amazing, Aang," Katara complimented, smiling.

Aang basked in the praise and, his attention diverted, crashed into a tower of snow. He wiggled slightly and yanked his head free, falling backwards on to the snow with an, "Oof!"

"My watchtower!" Sokka gasped, eyes as wide as saucers. He frantically ran to it in hopes of salvaging it. It was futile and he mourned his master piece, holding the ruined snow in his hands. "All my hard work…"

"Sorry," Aang apologized as he picked himself up with Katara's help.

"Airbenders, Waterbenders," Sokka complained moodily as he stood and examined the damage on his tower, "together you can waste time all day long."

Pleasantly surprised, Aang turned to the girl. "Katara, you're a Waterbender!"

She smiled at him. "Well, sort of."

Anything Aang would've said next was cut off by Kanna, "Alright. That's enough playing. You have chores, Katara." She motioned for her granddaughter to join her.

The reminder of chores made Katara scowl and she took her leave with the rest of the women (who only left after instructing their children to stay close to Sokka and to not bother the raven-haired boy in red clothes).

Alone, Aang walked over to Zuko, who had kept his distance from the group. "What's wrong?" he eyed his friend. "You're not usually this quiet." Zuko raised an eyebrow at that and Aang realized what he'd said. "Well, you are," he amended sheepishly. "But you've never tried to leave so soon."

So Aang had noticed, Zuko observed. Even as Katara had begun to introduce everyone, he had seen the women's eyes. They were afraid. Of _him_, regardless of the fact that Zuko had never done anything to them or even met them before now. So he'd tried to make himself as unnoticeable as possible, willing himself to fade into the background. It hadn't worked. Not even Aang's impromptu show with his glider had distracted them from constantly shooting fearful glances his way.

People weren't supposed to be scared of him. Because people shouldn't be scared of a thirteen year-old with shaggy hair and a scrawny build that came with adolescence; because people shouldn't see an innocent boy and immediately think of the century old monster who destroyed lives and appeared in nightmares, and stole all that was good, and _hurt_ _everyone_.

"It's nothing, Aang. Don't worry about it," Zuko counseled. "I'm going to go check on Appa, okay? I'll see you later." He left.

"Later…" Aang watched him go until one of the toddlers demanded his attention, wanting him to join their "warrior game" (to which Sokka loudly protested against before lecturing the little boy for referring to it as a game).

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Katara," Kanna began, voice stern, "do not place all your hopes in this one boy." She studied the cloth in her hand, deemed it clean, and moved on to the next fabric.

"He's special, Gran Gran. I know he is. I can sense it," she told her elder, pausing in her work. "And he can teach me." She smiled at the idea.

"Be reasonable, my little Waterbender. What can an _Air_bender teach one who bends water?" Kanna questioned while she placed the fabric in her hands into the pile on her right, unwilling to let Katara dream just so that said dreams would end up broken.

The reality brought a frown to Katara's face. "They can't be that different. I'm sure we can both think of something."

_Stubborn girl_, Kanna thought fondly and proudly of her grandchild as she separated yet another fabric into the right pile. _Just like her grandmother._

"In fact, I know we can," Katara continued, cementing her belief. She returned to her chores and became disgusted at the sight before her. "Eww! Sokka's dirty socks." She tried to put it in the sullied pile of clothes without actually touching it but was unsuccessful.

Kanna laughed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

It was quiet on the ship, the crew at attention. They had spent all morning and most of the afternoon readying themselves and the ship and now they waited for additional instruction.

"Listen up, men," Lieutenant Jee commanded, posture conveying power. "You have transformed this ship into a prison for the Avatar and you have done well, all things considered. However, we all know that mere steel cannot detain him. No, it must be us who confine him, who render him powerless until we either reach the Main Land or back-up. Whichever comes first. The task ahead might sound impossible, but it is not. We are Fire Nation. We are honorable men who serve the Fire Lord. We will sustain and we will triumph, and we will bring glory to our great nation." He looked into the crewmen's eyes. "Do not fail."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now, to your posts," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The crew dispersed with a determined gleam in their eyes.

Lieutenant Jee turned to his right, facing a bored Mai and her attendant. "We should reach the village in an hour or two."

"Good," Mai acknowledged. "Send for me if you need me before then. I'll be in my room." She disappeared into the door heading to the lower deck, her attendant walking quietly after her.

_Kids these days_, Jee noted dryly before turning to face straight ahead and settling to wait for the upcoming fight.

**.**

**.**

**.**

_

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_

_**QUESTION**: Am I being too precise with the story? Like, am I wasting time and not moving forward fast enough? Because, technically, I haven't even gotten past episode 1 yet._

_~Erykha_


	4. Chapter 4

**disclaimer;** I don't own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_ nor do I own its script. For the fourth time? No profit is gained through this fanfic.  
**warnings;** OCC-ness, lack of Beta, and a weird update schedule 'cause I write whenever I can get the right words out

_A/N: I was writing essays, dealing with college applications, studying for tests, doing volunteer work (got almost 8 hours in just one day thanks to the Special Needs Project I helped with), and then I got scared half to death by my dad who recently fell gravely ill (he was sick enough to have to be rushed to the hospital _twice_ by ambulance—and one of those times was at 6:00 AM! The only reason I didn't freak was that, for the first time in forever, I was already awake watching Saturday morning cartoons. And on Monday, I had a sort of breakdown in class, almost bursting into tears in front of the teacher and barely making it out of the room). I wrote when I could._

_Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

**chapter 04:**

* * *

.

**.**

**.**

"Penguin!" an exuberant voice called.

Zuko shifted around on Appa's big, warm head to look at the source. "Aang?" he guessed, blinking in surprise at the speck of orange that tore through the snow at a rapid speed.

Appa groaned, lifting his head slightly off his paws.

The snow, which had risen due to Airbending enhanced speed, fell and the two silently continued to watch the point where the orange (Aang) had disappeared.

A minute later, Katara emerged from the village, following the disturbance in the snow. She, too, disappeared soon enough.

"What do you think that was about?" Zuko asked Appa, who grunted. "Yeah, I haven't got a clue either."

They both settled back into their previous positions, Appa resting his head on his paws with his eyes closed and Zuko attempting to bask in the sun whose rays barely reached him despite his sensitivity to them.

But the peaceful silence didn't last long.

The toddlers of the village, who had demanded a potty break, rushed out of the village entrance and caught sight of the bison. Their urge to relieve themselves forgotten, they instead rushed excitedly towards Appa. Together, they gazed at the creature in awe and then took several brave steps closer.

One of the taller boys spoke up, "Hey, mister?" he called up to Zuko.

Zuko shifted for a second time to look down at them. "What?"

The children behind the boy huddled together, their mothers' warning voices ringing in their ears. The boy himself fidgeted nervously under golden eyes for a moment before the want to play won over. "Can we play with…with…" he trailed off, unsure of what to call the creature.

"Appa?" Zuko supplied for him.

"Yeah," the little boy smiled widely, nodding. "Can we?"

The other children joined in, seeing that the red clad boy hadn't hurt them for bothering him, "Can we?"

"_Please_?" a little girl added sweetly.

Zuko became particularly uncomfortable as they begged. "Uh," he glanced at Appa. Said flying bison took pity on him and lazily stood up, yawning and shaking the sleep out of his eyes. Zuko carefully slid down from his place and turned to the little boys and girls. "I guess that'd be okay."

They cheered.

Appa started walking away slowly and the children ran after him, grinning and laughing. A few of them jumped on to his fur coat, squealing with delight.

Zuko kept an eye on them.

Until a storming Sokka caught his attention, that is.

"What do you _think_ you're DOING?" Sokka fumed, marching up to the children who were now sliding down Appa's tail with glee. "This is no time for fun and games," he used his arms for emphasis. "There's a war going on and we need to be ready for—"

"But they're just kids," Zuko cut in, tone matter-of-fact, and the frozen children resumed their playing and giggling, forgetting the older boys.

Sokka turned to him startled, only now realizing that the raven-haired boy stood a few feet behind him. He spent a moment to examine Zuko up and down. He must've seen something, because he actually spoke up, "I know. But we don't have anyone else. The men have all gone to help fight the Fire Nation and now it's up to us to protect the tribe." _Up to me._

The only reason Zuko was able to rebel against his first instinct was because he remembered in time that a whole century had passed since he and Aang left the Southern Air Temple. Many, _many_ things had changed. And apparently, it was all his nation's doing. As much as that thought made his stomach churn, he decided it'd be best to keep quiet for now, because he didn't think these people were lying. He settled for a noncommittal sound to at least acknowledge that the older boy had spoken.

Having given up on forcing the toddlers back into the village for the continuation of their lesson on being warriors, Sokka ambled over to Zuko. "So. Zuko," he tried to strike up conversation with possibly the only guy on the frozen glacier who even came _near_ his own proud age of fifteen (a fact that motivated him into conveniently ignoring Zuko's distinctly Fire Nation features and wardrobe). "How do you like the South Pole? Take it from the guy who's lived here his entire life. The blubber seal jerky around here is to _die_ for, my friend," he nodded sagely.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Aang took a step back and then another, grey eyes wide. Then he sank to the floor, hunching over in total disbelief. "A hundred years…" his lips barely formed the words. "I can't believe it. A hundred years." His thoughts swerved all over the place.

Katara quickly kneeled next to him for comfort. "I'm sorry, Aang," she said solemnly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "But maybe there's a bright side to this?"

"Yeah." Aang straightened up, discarding thoughts of lost time and reaching for optimism. "I met you," he smiled shakily at his new friend.

She returned the smile before standing and offering him a hand. "Now c'mon. We have to get out of here."

Together, they headed down a hall they thought would lead them back out into the open. Instead of an exit, they found themselves in a dark, grime-filled room that was decorated with splotches of red here and there.

Katara recoiled. "This place is creepy," she half-whispered, blue eyes cautiously watching the shadows, a part of her expecting something dangerous to lunge out and attack.

Aang turned to her inquisitively. "Did you say someth—" He felt an almost imperceptible sensation on the lower half of his leg.

At once, the room's machinery burst into life.

Aang and Katara screamed in alarm, hearts pounding wildly in their ribcages as they backed away from heavy steam and rusty, shifting gears. It wasn't long before the hot steam engulfed the complete expanse of the room and the old gears and whistles grated painfully at their ears.

_Whoosh!_

Grey-ish smoke.

"What was that!" Katara shouted over all the noise whilst they ran for a dusty, cracked window—the only window.

"I don't know!" Aang shouted back.

BOOM.

In the sky, a bright flare exploded sharply into a shower of sparks and thick trails of smoke accompanied it.

"Uh-oh," Aang gaped at its remains.

"Aang, we have to get back to the village _now_!" Katara half-pleaded, half-commanded in a slightly hysterical tone. _Someone's bound to have noticed that_, she thought.

"Right," Aang agreed, straightening. His eyes scanned the room and settled on a hole in the ceiling.

**.**

**.**

**.**

They were all back in the village, Sokka having forcefully dragged Zuko back inside and the children having been sternly ordered back and away from Appa by their mothers for their daily nap.

It was peaceful.

"_Eat it_!"

Well, for the most part.

"I said no, Sokka." Zuko crossed his arms in defiance.

"Eat it," Sokka repeated for what felt like the millionth time, dangling a piece of food precariously close to Zuko's face.

"No, thank you," Zuko responded shortly.

Sokka's eye twitched in irritation at the younger boy. "Eat. It," he gritted out.

Zuko watched him with a raised eyebrow, "No."

"Eat. The. Blubber. Seal. Jerky!" the meat lover exploded.

A disinterested glance from Zuko.

Sokka growled. "I'm going to make you try this delicious piece of food even if it kills me," he vowed, still horrifically shocked that Zuko had never even heard of blubber seal jerky. Who's never heard of seal jerky before? It was INSANE, Sokka noted incredulously. _In_sane.

Zuko shrugged.

Scowling, Sokka tried again. "You're going to eat this tasty delicacy even if—"

A _BOOM_ followed by fierce red sparks and smoke silenced him.

"That's a Fire Nation flare," Zuko stared, arms falling to rest at his sides. "But what's it doing here…?"

"I know what it's doing here," Sokka said gravely, blue eyes hardening. He shoved the blubber seal jerky into his mouth and walked off.

After a moment's debate, Zuko followed and he soon realized they were heading back to the entrance. He knew why even sooner, as two figures ran across the snow. When they came to a halt a couple of yards away, he strode forward to meet them. Whatever he would've said was cut off by an enraged Sokka.

"You're here to lead them straight to us, aren't you!" the Water Tribe boy raved. "I _knew_ it!" He glared at the outsiders, posture tense.

Katara stepped forward to their defense. "Aang didn't do it, Sokka. It was an accident."

"Yeah," Aang nodded energetically, eager to calm the situation. "There was this booby trap on the ship and we sort of…uh, boobied into it," he strove to explain.

"Katara," Kanna spoke with dismay as she came up behind them, supported by a few village women. Her old eyes were disappointed. "You knew better than to go near that ship. Now we could all be in danger, child!"

"Gran Gran…" Katara's voice fell to a whisper, reduced to a scolded "child" before her grandmother.

"No!" Aang blurted out. "Please don't blame Katara. It was my fault for bringing her there."

Sokka jumped at the confession, accusatory finger at the ready. "Aha! He admits it! He's the enemy! _Both_ of them are," he added (because he couldn't ignore the red any longer).

"What?" Aang traded a worried look with Zuko. How had things escalated to this?

Zuko, always the self-righteous one, faced the tribe. "We're not the enemy," he denied vehemently. "We might not belong here, but we're not the enemy. We wouldn't attack anyone. Especially not a tribe made up of women and children."

"Liar!" Sokka shot at him, hands balling into fists. "You Fire Nation don't care about anything."

The words hit Zuko and he lost his temper.

"What's wrong with you!" he roared, hands sizzling and golden eyes flashing. "All of you! Stop speaking like Fire Nation citizens are uncaring monsters! We're NOT. We care about people and things just like you do! So STOP saying that we don't!" He breathed deeply. No, he had to calm down. Regardless of where he was, a prince must always remain in control of himself. If he couldn't… _It's no wonder Father's ashamed._

While Aang examined his friend with concern, Sokka snorted. "Of course you do," he drawled.

Beside her grandson, Kanna turned to the two foreigners, "I think it best if you two leave now," she said tersely.

"And never come back," Sokka inserted happily.

Having finally recovered her composure, Katara's eyes narrowed. "You're making a mistake."

"May it be," Kanna allowed, watching her granddaughter, "they are still banished from our village."

Aang intervened before things could get any worse. "It's okay, Katara," he smiled. "We were leaving anyway. I'm sure Appa's all rested up. Right, Zuko?"

The frowning boy in question turned to Aang. "Right," he almost huffed. He then began walking away.

"But…!" Katara tried to say.

"It was nice meeting you, Katara. And your village. Maybe we'll see each other some day?" Aang grinned, waving goodbye.

"Aang," the girl called to him and he stopped walking.

"I don't want to come between you and your family," the Airbender told her briefly before once again trailing after Zuko. "Zuko, you're walking too fast!" he complained.

While Sokka and the women left, Katara saw them go to Appa and try to rouse him.

"I'm sorry, my little Waterbender," Kanna rested a hand on her granddaughter's sullen shoulders.

She saw them climb on to the bison and caught a faint whisper of, "Yip yip!" She saw them leave.

"Perhaps you'll feel better after—"

"Are you happy now?" Katara hissed, spinning around to face her grandmother. "Now I'll never become a Waterbender." With that, she stalked off, angry.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"I wanted to stay a little longer," Aang confessed dejectedly from his perch on the highest of the ice formations that they were currently resting on, fiddling with his staff.

"Well," Zuko grumbled, flicking hair away from his eyes, "I didn't."

Aang rolled over and hung his head out of the makeshift hole in the ice so that he could see his friend. "C'mon, it wasn't that bad. I liked them," he chirped.

"You like everyone," Zuko pointed out. He was careful to not disturb Appa, who he happened to be laying on in an effort to get away from the unending snow and ice. For his part, Appa was content to accommodate the warmer than average human whose heat made him nicely drowsy.

"And you don't like anyone," Aang said lightly, smiling. "But weren't you making friends with…um, Katara's brother? Saka? Sok? Sokka?" he asked, tilting his head in curiosity. He laughed when Zuko only grunted in response. "What does that even mean?" he wondered through giggles. When he received no answer, he laughed some more.

Zuko rolled his eyes at the bald boy. "Shouldn't your blood be rushing to your head by now?"

"Dunno." But Aang retreated to his previous position anyway. He clasped his hands together over his stomach and staff, relaxing. "Do you think what they said was true?" he inquired quietly, eyes searching for anything interesting in the ice that shielded him.

"About the war that's supposed to be going on?" Zuko thought back.

"Yeah."

"I didn't think they were lying," he mumbled. "But the stuff they said _was_ pretty crazy. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like I've been stuck in an iceberg for a century."

"Me neither," Aang agreed.

They settled into a short silence.

"So," Aang piped up, "what do we do next?" Then, without much pause for a reply, "Hey! What about the Earth Kingdom?" His eyes brightened.

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "What's in the Earth Kingdom?"

"Hopping llamas and hog-monkeys, of course," Aang grinned widely, glancing downwards at the older boy.

"Oh no," Zuko shook his head. "I'm not riding those things."

"It'll be fun," Aang promised.

A slightly clipped "No."

"Zuko, you have to live a little," Aang advised.

"I will," Zuko assured him. "As soon as you stop trying to get me killed with your little adventures."

Aang quickly rolled over and hung his head out of the hole again. "What? I'm not!" he denied.

"Sure you're not," Zuko teased.

"Zu_ko_!" Aang scolded.

"Remember the cow-hippo?" Zuko brought up.

Aang winced. "Maybe…?" he drew out the word, testing the waters.

Honestly? It was a hard thing to forget.

He, Zuko, and Kuzon had gone against strict orders and snuck out of the third boy's house/mansion, tip-toeing past guards and nobles and Kuzon's parents, eager (or not so eager, in Zuko's case) to experience another one of Aang's crazy plans for adventure. Excited by the lack of stern adult supervision, they ran through the city, playing and only pausing when something caught their attention. It was Aang who spotted the lone cow-hippo. He'd never seen one up close before so he had instantly walked up to it, leaving his two friends to catch up.

At first, it ignored him, munching contently on its meat. But Aang had wanted it to do something more "interesting". So while Kuzon came to stand by him and Zuko rolled his eyes at the two whilst keeping at a small distance, he began to poke the creature.

Repeatedly.

Annoyingly.

Methodically: _poke_. _Poke_. _Poke_. Slightly faster: _poke_, _poke_, _poke_. Hand almost a blur: _poke_ _poke_ _poke_.

He had continued poking even when the creature started making stranger noises. Poking until said creature aggressively swung its head at Aang, head-butting him away along with poor Kuzon (the animal's head had been too large for him to save himself).

The native boys had frozen in surprise at the cow-hippo, who was known for its extremely placid nature. When the animal had begun to stomp on the ground and breathe heavily through its nostrils, they screamed, "Run!"

And how were they supposed to know that enraged cow-hippos could _run_?

They had been chased all throughout the Fire Nation Bazaar. Exhausted and panting, they reached safety at Kuzon's house. Only to be found out and punished severely by their respective parents (or current guardian during his stay, as was Aang's case).

"Eh, okay, maybe I do remember," Aang conceded under Zuko's glare.

"We were punished for weeks; you went back home two days later and got out of it because a certain _someone_ never told Gyatso."

"Uh… Sorry?" Aang tried.

"I'm still not riding those things."

Pouting, Aang dropped the subject (for now). Bored, he rolled on to his back and, sighing, looked at the white landscape upside down.

That's when he caught sight of the metal ship.

"The village!" he gasped and stood up with a start. He Airbended himself down to the ground and hastily transformed his staff into a glider with orange wings. "I have to help them." But he hesitated, peeking over his shoulder at Zuko.

The raven-haired boy watched him intently. Then, "Go. We'll wait."

Aang flew off.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Sokka was ready. White and navy-blue warrior's face paint decorating his features and weapons in hand, he was ready. Taking a deep breath, he exited the tent and strode with unyielding purpose to the ice wall surrounding the village. Climbing up the barrier, he stood and carefully scanned the mist overlying the ocean.

There was nothing as far as the eye could see.

As seconds ticked by, Sokka frowned. "Where are you, Fire Nation?" his eyes narrowed, hand tightening on his club.

Minutes passed.

Sokka made an effort to ignore his fast pounding heart. Because real men (warriors) feared nobody and, _no_, his heart was definitely _not_ beating as violently as it was in pathetic fear.

Cold sweat trickled down his back and he rearranged his hold on the club, swallowing thickly.

It was too quiet.

Like the quiet before a big snowstorm hit.

Sokka was familiar with snowstorms that unforgivingly bruised tender, human flesh and demolished tents; he wasn't familiar with world-breaking tremors that echoed miles and miles and left his ears ringing.

The wall to his right crumbled and, cursing, he jumped down just as his own section collapsed. By now, he could see the giant silhouette coming closer and closer, cutting through hazy fog.

He surveyed the shadow with disdain, mind calculating his chances of victory and quickly working out a zero possibility (Sokka the great, manly man VS freakishly gigantic ship? Freakishly gigantic ship wins!). "Aww, man!" he groaned, staring ahead.

"Sokka!" Katara moved away from the frantic women to run up to him, eyes worried. "This is no time for games," she berated. "We have to leave! C'mon!" She tried to pull him away but he wrenched himself out of her grasp.

"Don't be stupid, Katara," Sokka scowled at her. "It's my job to protect this village as its only remaining warrior."

His sister glared at him. "You're the—"

The incoming ship rammed into the ice, forcing them to lose their balance.

"Katara, go back to Gran Gran," Sokka ordered, regaining his composure and helping her upright.

"But!" she aimed to protest.

"I'll be fine."

"I—"

"Katara," Sokka's eyes met hers.

She paused, taken aback by his sober expression. "Oh _fine_," she huffed before jogging back to her grandmother who had been motioning her over for the past minute, barely making it in time as the ship broke through the ice barricade.

The combination of the ship and snow pushed a stubborn Sokka back.

Finally smashing into the village, the ship came to a halt, mindless of the resulting spidery cracks etching into the ice.

All that was left of the Southern Water Tribe looked on in trepidation whilst the ship's bowsprit opened and folded out and down (almost crushing Sokka in its descend).

Steam covered the top, obscuring their view, but once it dissipated they were able to focus on a young girl calmly walking down, a woman trailing after her, and towering guards.

Sokka, who had been ready to charge, wavered. _A girl? I can't fight girls! It'd be like taking food from a _baby_!_ He settled for studying the enemy with a guarded gaze.

For her part, Mai expertly scrutinized the Water Tribe peasants. A scrawny boy with ridiculous, half-undone face paint; toddlers; and a bunch of women of various ages… She turned her attention to the tents but caught nothing out of the ordinary.

"Where is the Avatar?" she questioned bluntly, observing for anything that would betray the villagers and give her the answer she sought.

_The Avatar?_ rang through the blue clad tribe's surprised minds.

"Y-you must be mis-mistaken," a particularly plump woman stuttered, only wishing for the intruders to leave. "Th-the Avatar's been d-dead for y-years." _Haven't you hurt this tribe enough?_ she thought wearily. _Please, just go away. Leave us alone._

While Mai analyzed the woman, her attendant stared coldly at her. "Don't lie to Lady Mai, peasant. We saw the strange column of light earlier." Her eyes narrowed, "We know he's here. If you continue to hide him..." she left the threat hanging.

The threat spurred Sokka into action. Who cared if they were women? They were endangering his tribe! Club at the ready, he attacked the older woman with a battle cry.

She sneered and dodged the blow. Then tripped him flat on his face.

Sokka grunted in slight pain but speedily stood up again, snatching his fallen club on his way up. He lunged.

The female attendant smirked. "I don't have time for silly games, boy," she told him, unsheathing two daggers and pitting them against him. It wasn't long before his hands sported shallow cuts and his club once again landed in the snow, useless.

Sokka hissed at the stinging sensation and, on the sidelines, Katara took a step forward to help in any way she could, but Kanna prevented her from doing anything else.

Face set, Sokka reached for his boomerang and threw it at his opponent.

She evaded the weapon, taking a split second to wonder what the strange object was before menacingly advancing on the boy.

Weaponless now, Sokka eyed the sharp daggers with dread.

"Give it up, peasant."

One of the village toddlers recited a lesson, "Show no fear!" and threw a spear at Sokka, who grabbed it out of thin air and quickly aimed at the woman's feet without giving her a chance to react. He grinned in victory when she stepped backwards.

Right into the path of his returning boomerang.

He stood up and pointed the spear's blade at the fallen woman. Basking in triumph, he didn't notice the small black blur heading his way. It knocked the spear out of his hands. He gaped.

Katara, who had disobeyed her grandmother and gotten closer to attempt Waterbending, gulped. A small, almost nonexistent trail of blood streamed down her cheek.

Mai voiced her question for a second time. "Where," she boredly drew out, "is the Avatar?"

Sunlight glinted off of the black knives held between her fingers.

**.**

**.**

**.**

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_Eh, I don't know what to say. I've been so tired lately... Was it an okay chapter? I'm starting to think that maybe I'm overdoing it with commas. _

_**Constructive criticism is much appreciated~**_

_**Review, pretty please? **__I really do need to hear about what you like about this fanfic. Or if you all even like it at all. I love writing, but it's not really my thing, you know?_

_::Extra::_

_Here's what I was going to write as Sokka's response to Zuko saying that the toddlers were just kids, but chose to take out: _

"You think war cares for kids? It doesn't. It doesn't care about anything but bringing destruction and fire."

Zuko winced at 'fire'.

_::end of Extra::_

_~Erykha_


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